The prior art is replete with merchandise labeling using bands about merchandise. Sometimes the heretofore known bands have elastic sections united to non-elastic sections, and sometimes they are endless elastic bands commonly called rubber bands.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,516,292 (Bennett) of Jul. 25, 1950 teaches a preformed labeling band of elastic and non-elastic sections for holding bananas constantly under tension as they shrink. The ends of the elastic and non-elastic sections of the band are overlapped and adhesively or otherwise bonded together. U.S. Pat. No. 5,733,652 (Stowman et al.) of Mar. 31, 1998 discusses banding of merchandise by a technique involving in situ bonding of the ends of a strip of elastic material with or without an interposed separate strip of material that is not necessarily elastic. In situ bonding, however, involves carrying bonding equipment to the site where banding of merchandise is to be done (e.g., for bonds formed by heat sealing) or involves removing and disposing of a release liner at the site of banding (e.g., for bonds formed by using liner-protected contact or pressure-sensitive adhesive layers). Neither approach is ideal for field application of labels. Also, when either a preformed band of bonded sections or an in situ formed band of bonded sections is stretched about merchandise, it exerts a compressive force on the merchandise. Relatively strong bonds are needed to prevent bond separation under such circumstances since the bonds are in the line of stretching and are subjected to the tension of stretching during use. A still further problem is the questionable reliability for UPC bar codes on stretched bands encircling merchandise.
Where endless bands of rubber (commonly called rubber bands) are used as in teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 5,617,656 (Ludlow et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,177 (Ludlow et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,639 (Tinklenberg), a second step arises for attaching the tag. The two-step approach is not the most desirable although it has been one of the more popular approaches in the past because the tag is distinct from the rubber band and can carry reliable UPC bar coding that is easy to handle at checkout scanning.
Heretofore, the only known merchandise marking article capable of single-step application to achieve simultaneous banding and absolutely scan-reliable bar-coding of merchandise is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,583 (Larsen) of Jul. 14, 1998, where the tag is attached to the rubber band by encircling a section of the tag about the rubber band prior to the time the rubber band is fastened in banding condition about merchandise. Economy is not a hallmark for the manufacture of this prior art article.
In short, a one-step process using an economical unitary product for reliable and simultaneous tagging and banding of merchandise, including for tagging and banding clumps of agricultural produce, is much desired by industry and has been much sought after for a very long time.